VISTA: Traveling circus to clown around

Circus Vargas performances begin Thursday in big top just off Highway 78

Face paint, red noses and oversized shoes are all necessary
tools of the trade for circus clowns, but performers for Circus
Vargas said something else is also required: Heart.

"If they don't have it here in their heart and they don't have
the timing down in their head, they're not a clown," said Jon
Weiss, a circus performer with more than 25 years of experience.
"Clowns are the backbone of the circus," he added.

The circus's big top will be arriving in Vista next week, with
performances beginning on Thursday, in a big top that will go up
just off Highway 78 near Vista Village Drive and Hacienda
Drive.

Circus Vargas is based in Apple Valley but travels throughout
California putting on more than 300 performances each year. The
troupe will perform 10 shows over five days in Vista before moving
on to Mira Mesa and Temecula later in the month.

Weiss no longer wears makeup or bright, baggy pants as part of
his own act, but he does his fair share of clowning around with
29-year-old Matti Esqueda, the show's lone official clown, during
Circus Vargas' 90-minute shows.

Esqueda, a fifth-generation circus performer, paints his face
and dons a bright blue suit for each show.

Between death-defying stunts such as the Globe of Death ---- an
event that features performers on dirt bikes riding around a steel
globe ---- Esqueda keeps the crowds entertained with old-fashioned
fun.

Esqueda said on Thursday that all four of his acts in the show
feature audience participation.

"This way they're (the audience) not just sitting watching a
show; you can take part if you want to," Esqueda said.

Weiss, who with his wife, Laura, teaches circus skills to
audience members before each show, said Esqueda is a natural
clown.

"The key to clowning is timing," Weiss said. "I don't care how
good you look or how well-done your makeup is. You need to know
when to hold a laugh and when to move on.

"The ability he (Esqueda) has is natural," Weiss said. "That's
why it works for him."

But Esqueda said he never dreamed he would become a clown. He
put on the white makeup for the first time in 2001 to make extra
money after he was married. He said he was shy underneath his
painted-on grin until he realized he could never mess up.

"I can trip and fall, but then I'm still a clown," he said.

The traveling circus will raise its tent Tuesday in Vista,

The circus is operated by the Tabares family, longtime trapeze
performers whose act is one of the centerpieces of the show. The
circus also includes acrobats, jugglers, a magician, a snake
handler, trick horse riders and the Globe of Death motorcycle
act.

Show times are 7:30 p.m. March 11; 4:30 and 7:30 p.m. March 12;
1:30, 4:30 and 7:30 p.m. March 13 and 14; and 7 p.m. March 15.
Ticket prices range from $15 to $50.